Introduction: A Downgraded Adventure To Oman

Welcome to my next trip report series, covering my recent review trip to Oman, which didn’t play out exactly as I had hoped. In total, I flew seven segments, and covered just over 16,500 miles.

You can expect flight reviews of Air Canada’s A220 business class, SWISS’ A330 business class, Helvetic’s E190-E2 business class, Oman Air’s 787 business class, Oman Air’s A330 business class, and Singapore Airlines’ 777 business class. There will also be reviews of several lounges, plus a review of one hotel.

More from OMAAT It’s Official: Oman Air Joins Oneworld Alliance, As 15th Member Read more

In this post I’ll outline all the basics of the trip, and then I’ll publish the entire trip report series in the coming days and weeks.

Why I took this trip

This was a pure review trip, plain and simple. That’s to say that I took this trip exclusively to be able to review certain premium airline products, all while being away from home for as little time as possible. In this case, the trip took around 80 hours, so I was basically gone for a long weekend.

The single thing that initially motivated me to take this trip is that I wanted to try Oman Air’s “old” A330 first class, as it has been on my radar for a long time. This cabin is available on only a couple of jets, and it’s such a cool retro product, with just six first class seats, plus a couch in the cabin. While I had flown Oman Air’s “new” 787 first class, I couldn’t wait to try the older product.

So while I booked this experience between Muscat and Frankfurt, unfortunately that didn’t work out, as there ended up being an aircraft swap. Still, I got to review lots of other interesting experiences, so it wasn’t a total loss.

The airlines I flew on this trip

I booked this trip with Air Canada Aeroplan points, which is one of my favorite points currencies. In total, I booked the award portion of this trip as three separate one-way itineraries, which ended up being the most efficient based on my itinerary.

To kick off the trip, I booked the entire outbound from Miami to Muscat as one itinerary, which included Air Canada’s A220 business class, SWISS’ A330 business class, Helvetic’s E190-E2 business class, and Oman Air’s 787 business class. I booked the following for 110,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $154.44 in taxes and fees:

1/11 AC1207 Miami to Montreal departing 8:00AM arriving 11:36AM
1/11 LX87 Montreal to Zurich departing 4:50PM arriving 6:15AM (+1 day)
1/12 LX1622 Zurich to Milan departing 5:40PM arriving 6:40PM
1/12 WY144 Milan to Muscat departing 9:30PM arriving 6:45AM (+1 day)

Next up, I booked Muscat to Frankfurt in Oman Air’s A330 first class. I booked the following for 65,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $62.57 in taxes and fees:

1/13 WY115 Muscat to Frankfurt departing 2:20PM arriving 6:50PM

However, this is the segment that ended up getting downgraded, so I actually flew this in business class. Therefore I received a refund of 20,000 Aeroplan points, reflecting the standard business class price of 45,000 Aeroplan points for business class on this routing.

Next up, I flew Singapore Airlines’ 777 business class. I booked the following for 60,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $184.30 in taxes and fees:

1/14 SQ26 Frankfurt to New York departing 8:20AM arriving 11:15AM

Last but not least, I just booked a cheap cash ticket from New York to Miami on American, which I won’t be reviewing this time around.

In addition to flight reviews, I also checked out several lounges. You can expect reviews of the following airport lounges:

• The Turkish Airlines Lounge Miami (MIA)
• The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal (YUL)
• The Air France Lounge Montreal (YUL)
• The SWISS Arrivals Lounge Zurich (ZRH)
• The SWISS Business Lounge Zurich (ZRH)
• The Oman Air First Class Lounge Muscat (MCT)
• The Oman Air Business Class Lounge Muscat (MCT)

The hotel I stayed at on this trip

This was a very quick trip, and only had one night in a hotel. Specifically, on the return portion of the trip, I had a quick overnight at Frankfurt Airport.

I decided to mix things up for review purposes. There are four hotels connected directly to the airport, and I made the choice to check out the one that I haven’t reviewed in recent years — I’m talking about the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport.

Otherwise, I’ve recently reviewed the Hilton Frankfurt Airport, Marriott Frankfurt Airport, and Sheraton Frankfurt Airport. I spend too many nights near Frankfurt Airport, eh?

Bottom line

This year is off to an exciting start when it comes to review trips, so it’s time for my next trip report series. You can expect reviews of several premium airline products, lounges, and one hotel. While this trip didn’t quite go the way I hoped, it was still an interesting experience all-around, with some real highs and lows.

Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!